HANSA - International Maritime Journal, November 2018

Finanzierung | Financing
»Tufton will be active in German market«
Not considering itself as a pure funding provider but as a shipowner, UK-based Tufton
Oceanic has further plans both for the capital market and the stricken German shipping
industry, writes Michael Meyer
In an exclusive interview with HANSA,
Andrew Hampson, Managing Director
Asset Backed Investments, describes
Tufton Oceanic as an owner and operator
of tonnage. »Actually, the lack of capital
creates a very good opportunity for us.
Not only for ourselves taking advantage
of troubled situations. It has a phenomenal
restraining impact on the expansion
of the global fleet.« However, he adds, the
funding provision is something »we need
to understand«, because he feels that one
cannot do one’s job if one doesn’t understand,
what the banks are doing, or any
other form of fresh capital, be it Chinese
leasing or US private equity.
Tufton as a group has today about
1.3 bn $ under management, and just
about over a billion of that is with the asset-backed
segment. Currently, the fleet
consists of over 75 vessels in total in all
the structures. Besides two, all of them
are 100% owned by different funds. These
are diversified across different shipping
segments.
Hampson and his teams are strong believers
in diversification, looking opportunistically
all the time into each segment
and working out where to better balance
the portfolio. »I think there is a danger of
being a single-purpose sector specialist.
Long-term returns are possibly 7 to 8%,
but you need to get to the finishing line
and through the cycles. We believe that
by constructing balanced portfolios, we
can protect ourselves better against this
cyclicality. And it also allows us to get out
of the sector, when it is on the up and to
re-invest in other sectors,« he argues.
Other growing players, for example like
German MPC with its Oslo-listed vehicle
MPC Container Ships (MPCC), choose a
different route, concentrating on a specific
segment like feeder vessels. Tufton
has around three dozens of these ships.
The last addition for Tufton has been
a handysize bulker for 12.9 mill. $ a couple
of weeks ago. As of September 2018,
around one quarter of the fleet are container
ships, followed by bulkers (21%), oil
tankers (10%) and chemical tankers (9%).
Nearly 6% are general cargo vessels – a
segment Tufton is quite interested in at
the moment, due to the combination of
a restriction on capital and a lack of new
orders. »We saw in the past a lack of recovery
for MPP, but I believe it will follow
some of the fortunes of the dry bulk
sector. Due to the activities of the KG system,
the MPP is one of those with the next
largest concentration after the container
ships«, Hampson says. Actually, the vast
majority of the ships Tufton owns today
have been purchased through distressed
KG situations.
»Multipurpose shipping is
an interesting sector«
A new example of these kind of distressed
assets for sale may be the over 40 units
and their non-performing loans, for
which German bank Nord LB is currently
looking for a buyer. The managing director
confirms generally that there already
are talks about MPPs, »it is an interesting
sector«.
He thinks there is still a lot of opportunity
in the German KG market: »It is fair
to say, we will be active. We are talking
with banks.« Tufton – not revealing more
details – works with four German ship
managers and is, according to Hampson,
Photo: Meyer
Andrew Hampson,
Managing Director Asset Backed Investments
at Tufton Oceanic
pleased with their performance, even if
they went through difficult times. »They
have been spoiled by associations with
German banks by earning more money
than it would be competitive in a totally
open market. Over the last years there has
ben a trend to a slightly more real world
in terms of pricing.« For the technical and
commercial fleet management, Tufton
has a special unit based in Cyprus. However,
as it is not a full-fledged shipping
company, they more act as »gatekeeper«,
managing the managers.
For further investments, Tufton will
only use its 2017-listed vehicle. 91 mill. $
were raised with the IPO, fully invested
in ships in the meantime. »At the moment,
the London-listed vehicle is the
only one, which is open for investment.
The other portfolios for the pension fund
managed accounts are currently at their
maximum level. However, they are not
permanently closed, potentially we sell
ships from them, generating new ability,«
Hampson confirms. Already a couple
of weeks ago, Tufton had announced
to go for another capital round. According
to him, another 100 mill. $ would be
a good size: »You need a number which is
significant enough to be able to make an
impact but not too much from the yield
20 HANSA International Maritime Journal – 155. Jahrgang – 2018 – Nr. 11